Muskegon Heights Prison Will Close in March

The Michigan Department of Corrections announced Monday that they will be closing West Shoreline Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights in March.

In a released, MDOC said that the closure is to compensate for a decline in prison population statewide. Michigan’s prison population peaked in March 2007 when it stood at 51,554, but dipped below 40,000 earlier this year.

Staff at the prison were told about the closure Monday. In all, the prison employs 174 people.

West Shoreline was built in 1987, and currently houses 1,245 prisoners.